


Careless Whispers

by bluejaymorse



Series: fire emblem three houses [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: M/M, Ooooooh, This was purely indulgent, from edelgard, or does she, she doesn’t mind, they are keeping secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-01 22:49:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20265775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluejaymorse/pseuds/bluejaymorse
Summary: Edelgard has been noticing a difference in Hubert’s demeanor towards her. One night, making her way to Hubert’s chambers to talk, she hears what she never expected to hear. Ferdinand, in Hubert’s room.





	Careless Whispers

**Author's Note:**

> purely indulgent to amuse myself, they rarely interact because it’s narrated from Edelgard but... i loved writing this

It wasn’t easy to fool Edelgard, Hubert more than anyone knew that. Which is why Edelgard was surprised when she found out Hubert was keeping a secret from her. They spoke about this countless times. She had never been one to pry into her vassal’s private life, or what he did in the shadows. She knew Hubert liked to keep his secrets, no matter how loyal he was to her or how much she pestered him to tell her. It didn’t bother her much, it never got in the way of the way he worked, or what he did; for that, she was grateful. The problem came when she started to notice a different type of avoidance coming from him. Hubert has stopped talking to her about more private matters altogether, and had turned their relationship purely professional. He spoke to her like an empress, not as a friend, and it bothered her to no end not knowing why. It didn’t bother her, in other circumstances, regarding other people, she would be pleased. Pleased that she was being treated like the emperor she was; but this was Hubert. 

She paced in her room thinking. There were many possibilities to think of regarding Hubert’s new attitude towards her, whether it be news from the war or personal relations, the list could be endless, to Edelgard’s knowledge. Yet, the fact that he had betrayed her was off the table. It was nowhere on the table to begin with. She knew Hubert would never turn his back on her. If it was something to do with the war that was of extreme importance, then they would have discussed it already, it couldn’t be that. 

No matter how hard she tried to think, Edelgard couldn’t come up with anything. It was nighttime, her regal attire was off, and her hair fell down on her shoulders. Edelgard stopped pacing to sit down on the edge of her bed, only a few dim candles at the corners of her room for her to at least see the objects in her room. Her hands folded neatly on her lap, she bit the inside of her cheek, a bad habit she had for when she thought too much. A small yawn made her way out of her, a way of her body telling her to go to sleep already. She was ready to sleep, but she couldn’t. It was gnawing at all her not knowing what caused this sudden change in Hubert. 

“He’s never acted this way, something must really be troubling him.” she muttered, talking to herself in an absolute low voice. Talking out loud would be sure to keep her awake. “I should just ask him, he would tell me if anything was bothering him, right?” Edelgard sighed. “Look at me, I’m talking to myself.” 

She made her way to her simple dresser and took out a dress. It wasn’t formal, it didn’t have intricate designs all around to decor. Just a simple dress, to walk around the halls of the castle at night, since she couldn’t basically walk outside in her night clothes. Once ready, she grabbed the lamp on her bedside table, and walked out of her room. Closing the door ever so gently for it not to alert the guards walking around other hallways. 

The halls were dark and empty, no portraits or torches of the sort. The hallway that led to her private quarters was devoid of windows, to prevent the chances that anyone would break into the castle so close to the emperor’s personal quarters. At first it seemed like a great idea, but now Edelgard walked the obscure halls with a simple candlelight to light her steps. As the echo of her short heels filled the silence, thoughts started to swirl in her head. Maybe she’s overreacting. They’ve been meeting day and night planning a siege, maybe the stress had finally taken over her thoughts and she’s seeing distrust where there is none. That’s a higher possibility than Hubert, out of all people, is hiding important things from her.

A deep sigh came out of her mouth in defeat, she was closer to Hubert’s quarters than her own, it would be effort wasted to turn around now. She walked closer to the door with a light step, the hallways weren’t totally empty anymore. There were some guest rooms more at the end of the hallway, but then again, nothing in the halls was sound proof. Edelgard made sure to be as quiet as she could be, when she heard something she absolutely didn’t expect to hear. 

Voices from Hubert’s room. 

Hubert and another person. The voice was familiar, and once she got closer, she realized it was Ferdinand’s. 

What was Ferdinand, out of all people, doing in Hubert’s room in the middle of the night? 

Edelgard knew the proper thing to do was to not eavesdrop, to leave their private business where it should be, private. Yet, the deep part of her brain kept muttering ‘You’re the emperor, you deserve to know everything that goes on in your Empire, so eavesdropping is really just doing your duty as a worried emperor’. Curiosity took over and she couldn’t help but get closer to the door, listening clearly to whatever they were both talking about. 

“This is taking a toll on me, on us! On Edelgard!” that was Hubert’s voice. Edelgard frowned. Whatever could they be talking about? “She is getting suspicious, Ferdinand. What if she suspects treason?” 

“Like she could ever suspect treason from you.” Ferdinand. His voice was more raw with emotion, then again, that was Ferdinand. “From me? Maybe in extremely dire circumstances, but from you? You’re incapable of something like that in her eyes.” 

“Nevertheless, we are going to have to admit to it someday.” they both sounded exasperated. Tired, as if this argument had been going for far too long. But Edelgard less worried on their states of mind and more on what topic could they both be hiding from her. “Why can’t we end our turmoil sooner rather than later? You know you can’t keep delaying the emperor from knowing the truth.” 

“You think Edelgard a saint? You think Edelgard will think with her heart more than with her head?” Edelgard heard a chair being pulled out with a rather aggressive touch. “You two are totally alike in that sense!” 

“I’m not seeing where you’re going with this argument of yours, Ferdinand.” Edelgard could hear Hubert crossing his arms. Edelgard edge closer to the door, as if that would make the argument go louder or faster. 

“What if she is disgusted by us!? What if she tears us apart? W-What if-“ there was a shake in Ferdinand’s voice that Edelgard couldn’t quite place. Disgusted by them? Because of what? “Goddess forbid, what if she,” 

“Enough, Ferdinand.” Hubert spoke up. Strong, imposing, a softness to his voice. A care for Ferdinand that she didn’t think possible coming from Hubert. “Lady Edelgard would never be disgusted over such a trivial matter such as-“ 

“Trivial? This is our relationship we’re talking about, Hubert.” 

Oh. . . Oh! 

“You know what I meant, Ferdinand.” said Hubert, but he didn’t sound as exasperated as Edelgard expected him to be. No, there was humor in his voice. That was foreign to Edelgard. 

“I know! I know, it’s just. I trust Edelgard, I really do, but I can’t take that risk! It’s too high, Hubert. Maybe she wouldn’t be disgusted but, if her argument is that we would be too focused on each other to focus on the battles ahead? We can’t argue against that, and if I lost you, I don’t know what I would do with myself. Now that I have you, I need you in my life.” 

It was too much for Edelgard. She took a few steps back, the shock leaving her flabbergasted and her mouth hanging agape. She almost went to knock, her hand raised in a fist, but stopped herself before she made a mistake. A swift turn and she started walking away, back to her room to digest the bit of information she had just received. Her heels weren’t discreet anymore, the sound of them bounced loudly against the walls, the candle threatening to die by how fast she was walking. Guards were probably hearing her walk and made their way to her room, she walked faster. The huge doors came into view, and she almost sprinted, if it weren’t for the fact that she was holding a candle. As soon as she reached her room, she closed the door and rested her back against it. 

They were scared of telling her that they were together, as if she was going to force them to stay apart from each other. She wasn’t cruel, or so she wanted to believe. In fact, it pained Edelgard to know that two of the people she trusted most in her castle were scared of sharing something personal with her. 

Dwelling on the subject at early hours of the morning would do her no good. As soon as she got ready once more for bed, went to sleep, the thought and shock of Hubert and Ferdinand together still pestering her dreams. 

It had been an approximate of two weeks, and Edelgard grew more on edge everyday. Now that everything was so clear to her, all she saw was Hubert and Ferdinand. The way their gazes lingered on each other, how somehow Hubert seemed to know Ferdinand’s favorite tea, how Ferdinand always had every bit of information on Hubert’s jobs (that he wasn’t supposed to know, given that it wasn’t his job). Edelgard noticed a tinge of a sad smile on Ferdinand’s lips while he looked at Hubert, who sat beside her. 

Just like it ate Hubert and Ferdinand up not telling her, Edelgard was also restless at the fact that they would just not come clean already. 

“All of you are dismissed, we will discuss this topic with more thoroughness, tomorrow.” Edelgard stood from her chair at the head of the table. Everyone slowly started to clear out the room. Ferdinand stood up and walked towards the door, stopping right before leaving and turned around, and waited for Hubert. Edelgard mentally slapped herself for not noticing sooner. They made it extremely obvious. Either this was their way of telling her, or Ferdinand was awful at keeping secrets. Hubert stood up, always being the last one to leave, when Edelgard spoke up once more. “Hubert, I want you to stay. We need to talk. Ferdinand, close the door on your way out.” 

“Wh-“ 

“Do as I say.” there was no anger to her tone, no bite. It was just that, an order. 

Edelgard saw Ferdinand swallow, and walked out the door. Once the sound of a gently closed door echoed in the room, she sat down once more. She didn’t even look at Hubert. She kept Hubert with her, but she didn’t exactly wanted to. Yes, she wanted Hubert to tell her outright. To be honest and upfront about this with her, yet, this wasn’t a matter of the war they were waging or any traitors between the walls. This was Hubert’s personal life, and even she didn’t feel she had the authority to force Hubert to tell her; even though she totally had the authority to do so. 

She turned to look at Hubert, whose face was expressionless as it could get to be. Edelgard sighed. “Do you remember what I told you, Hubert? About keeping secrets from me?” 

“Of course, Lady Edelgard, and I have told you close to almost every secret I could have,” said Hubert. “You said you wanted to know everything, meaning-“

“Yet,” Edelgard interrupted. “I feel like you’re lying to me. Didn’t you say you would even confide in me the person you were romantically involved with?” Hubert must’ve caught wind of what Edelgard was talking about. His eyes instantly drifted away from her to Ferdinand’s seat. It was so brief, so quick, that if it wasn’t Edelgard right in front of him, he might’ve gotten away with it. 

“Lady Edelgard, I so desperately desired to let you know, I would hate to keep-”

“Let me know what?” she interrupted him once more. “As far as I know, you haven’t told me anything.” There was silence in the room, none of them speaking a word to each other, when Edelgard spoke up. “You are dismissed, Hubert.” 

Maybe that was out of line from Edelgard’s part, but she didn’t mind. At least she did what she wanted, which was let Hubert know that she knew his secret. Now she only had to wait it out, and see if they would actually tell her or not. At the end of the day, she wasn’t going to force them to do something they didn’t want. A little bit of trust in their side would’ve been better though, but Edelgard won’t force anything. At least, for now.

**Author's Note:**

> hehehehe idk wether to write some continuation to this bc i never expected to write this. period. yet here he is, in AO3 forever. 
> 
> anyway! hoped you enjoyed !!   
kudos are appreciated! comments even more!!


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